Coming Home
by Lunation
Summary: May Maple left her unfinished coordinating career after a disastrous defeat during a Grand Festival battle. Four years later, now at the age of twenty, she is considering to reunite with her rivals and get back to being at the top of the game. Will she finally persuade herself to go "back home"? DAML Contestshipping, Divergentshipping, Ikarishipping, & several minor shippings.
1. I : Prologue

Hello, my lovelies. This author note is going to be _long_, longer than usual, so please struggle through my rambling. It is quite necessary to read. First of all, uh-oh! What happened to all of the chapters? Well, if you didn't know, I'm rewriting this story. I feel that it was pretty rushed and lacked detail, so I'm revamping each chapter with a relatively new plot (but still focuses on the summary and general concept). Also, I may or may not be changing my Pen Name to something else. If I do, I will let everyone know.

I've been in and out of the hospital over the pat few months and I'm having an MRI scan tomorrow morning. I was diagnosed with Foot Drop Syndrome last winter, which, to be concise, means that the nerve in my leg disabled me from having the ability to move my foot. I went to physical therapy for eight months, healed, and now my opposite leg is having issues. My doctor concluded that I either have a spinal or neurological issue, so I've been flooded with test after test after test. I am thrilled that I had time to write this today, but please know that my late updates are due to my health issues. Oopsie daisy.

In addition to that, only a few hours ago (I am currently writing this note on April Fifteenth, so please excuse me if I published this days after), Boston Massachusetts was bombed during the Boston Marathon. In the V.I.P. tent beside the finish line was filled with Newtown families who had lost their children and loved ones during the recent Connecticut shooting. My heart is broken for the two people's families who were killed on impact from the explosion and for the grieving parents, having to witness another horrific scene unfold.

With all of these traumatic things being unraveled in the past year or so, I've learned to realize and appreciate what I have even more. You never know how bad you really _don't_ have it until you see these events on the news. My heart goes out to the torn families and anyone who is struggling through something right now.

I love all of you with my whole heart and cannot thank you enough for the continued support/favorites/reviews/PM's. I will always be here for you in return. Enjoy the update.

**Important Notice :** The entire story will be from May's point of view, just to make everything more logical. All of the character ages are additionally going to change. Our lead character, May, will be twenty, along with Brendan, Lyra, Gary, Leaf, Erica, Joshua, Steven, Wally, and Brianna; Dawn, Lucas, Barry, and Zoey will be nineteen; Paul, Drew, Ash and Misty are twenty-one; and, last but not least, Wanda, Harley and Solidad shall be around their thirties. I will probably include other minor characters throughout the story. Just an F.Y.I., I do not plan to use any crossover or "created-by-yours-truly" characters; only ones from the real series or manga. Thanks for reading all of this!

**Lastly (I promise!), MY NEW PEN NAME IS ELEGANTE (FORMER WAS THESCOUTFINCH).**

* * *

Prologue : Those Years In Between

* * *

My name was repeatedly shouted from behind my back as I swatted my way through the crowds. Confused glances and gasps were exchanged between audience members that gathered in the coordinating "waiting wing" of the building. Cheers came to an abrupt stop as the festival concluded early, thanks to me.

The appearance of myself that I had presented to the public sure could tell a story about my day. My gashed dress rubbed against the tips of my kneecaps, annoying me due to the irritation. The once perfectly ruby-red maxi gown that I wore was now completely demolished and coated in a grimy dirt that faded to an ombre near the rim of the skirted design. The lace was frayed and slightly burnt. My breath was coming out in short and wavering pants and tears smeared my makeup, dripping black droplets down my cheeks. My red, white, and black capsule ball was firmly planted in between my fingers, but nothing or _no one_ was inside. It was empty.

The yelling became louder and louder. More people began to join in, screaming my name. I could practically imagine swarms of people scampering after me. My head was flashing with what I had just seen; at what the competitors, judges, and others watching on their television had just seen. The corruption in my mind was stressing me to the point of neurasthenia. I was luckily able to squeeze my way into a hallway and I broke out into a sprint towards the bathroom.

Clicking and tapping rattled against the white tiles as my stilettos grazed the ground. I was thankful for receiving a moment of silence after being bombarded with comments, questions, and obnoxious camera crews.

An older women who were casually applying mascara and powder capriciously became surprised as I threw open the sliding door, gasping for air. A tall and heavy girl, who I guessed was her daughter due to the similarity of their facial features, even had the _audacity_ to ask me, _"Look, mom! It's May Maple! What is wrong? What happened to your eyes?" _She had silver hair, curled up in cautiously examined my body, waiting for an answer.

I bit the inside of my cheek, discouraging myself from hissing at the clueless and ignorant spectator. "I'm fine, thank you." She was only here to watch the Grand Festival, not to intentionally insult me, I had to tell myself. She had no clue what had just happened in the lobby. She wasn't even aware of what had happened _in_ the arena, as far as I assumed.

_"What are you doing? Where are you going? There's no point in running! Just slow down, Maple!"_

_I viciously jerked my body around to face the self-indulged voice that was continuously hollering at me. My eyes burned into his as I trembled. "He's dead. He's... you don't even know what I just went through! Actually, what I _am _going through_,_ Arceus be damned! Have you ever seen your teammate die in front of you? Have you ever seen your best friend lose their flame, literally, and collapse to the floor? No. You haven't, and you probably never will. I'm not in the mood for your remarks, so get away from me."_

_The boy, teenaged boy, rather, who I had always considered to be a friend, had been angrily pushed away in my rampage. He tried to calm me down, but was too frustrated by my revolts and came to an abrupt stop._

_"Fine. Leave. Last time I'll try to consult my best friend," he snarled. His naturally green locks looked ruffled, probably from him anxiously sifting his hands through his hair. He appeared to be distraught from the tone he was using with me, but what would I know?  
_

_"I'll leave. That's _exactly_ what I'll do," I hissed in return. _

_Little did he know, I had no intentions of returning._

I took a deep sigh through my nostrils, inhaling with my mouth. I had told him that my decision was finalized, or he should have taken the assumption by my seething, anyways.

After regaining focus on reality, I patiently waited for the little girl to stop talking. She kept babbling on to her mother about how amazing of a coordinator I was and whipped out her _Top Twenty Under Twenty_ magazine, flipping to my page under the number one section and displaying it smugly. I gently blushed.

"Would you mind not telling anyone about finding me here, sweetie?" I softly pleaded to the child. I bent down on my knees to meet her with eye contact and gave her mother a tiny grin. "I... just need a minute to myself."

I felt a pang of guilt stab at my insides as I told a fib to the innocent kid. A fan of mine, more the less. She didn't seem to mind, though. A squeal quickly emerged from her mouth and I thanked her before giving her a quick hug.

"I hope you can resolve everything, miss," her parent had told me sympathetically. Their hair colors were identical, but facial shapes seemed to be unique in their own ways. The pair looked adorable in their matching plaid dresses, looking more like twins rather than mother and daughter. "I'm not one to pester others about their issues, and I don't _plan_ to, but I just want to let you know that you seem so mature for a fifteen year old. My little girl here blabs about you all the time and I can just tell that you are one of her role models. I hope you feel better, dear."

I gave them a moment of silent gratitude and walked off with a wave.

Over the three-hundred and sixty-five days in a year's span, things can happen, things can change, and things can leave. This, for sure, is one monumental moment to mark on the calendar.

* * *

"If you two start making out _again_, I will, without a single doubt in my mind, throw you into the water."

"Rude!" A perky voice piped in and weakly attacked the grumpy man with her fists. He inelegantly stumbled close to the edge and whipped his plumb-like hair to the side due to whiplash, nearly resulting in falling into the icy sea. He hissed at her, throwing her a look while mentally giving her the thought of him tumbling off of his Wailord and effectively stopped her verbal speech towards him. The other couple comically laughed at the other pair and their green-haired acquaintance gave them deadpanned sigh.

"Can we just relax? We're only an hour away from the Route one-zero-four dock. Can we at least make it to land before you all start to fight? I don't even know why you dragged me along," Drew groaned, unhappy with himself. He regretted letting his cousin, Joshua, and the dark emerald man's girlfriend, Erica, bring him to Petalburg so they could meet up with Wally Hayden. Drew hadn't seen his brother in the past year or so, since his youngest sibling was often in the hospital for his recent and often asthma attacks. Since he was feeling more like himself and called Drew to give him an update, they all wanted to give him company. Paul and Dawn joined along after they finished mapping out the region of Unova and Drew invited them to continue traveling with him. The two coordinators successfully earned many ribbons and even won new titles, thanks to the notorious top coordinator's vigorous training workouts. He assisted both of the Shinji brothers while helping Dawn and other Pokemon owners on their journey through Veilstone.

To give Drew compensation for the help, they agreed in tagging with him once again. They also, including Paul, felt sympathetic for their older friend and wanted to support him during his visit. Wanda, Joshua's sister, wasn't able to care for Wally due to bring in her third trimester of pregnancy. Her constant mood swings really wouldn't bring Wally's spirits up, either, so she opted out.

Joshua sighed and slowly shimmied his way past Dawn. There was plenty of room on the enormous creature, but he still remained careful and aware of his surroundings so he didn't plunge into the cold-killing water. He was astonished to think he even chose to travel by Pokemon, since he had a fear of doing so since he was a child and tumbled off of a Lapras.

He squatted down to feel his cousin's gaze by the blowhole of the whale. "He'll be fine, Drew. He has Brendan... and Ruby... and Steven... and May... and-"

"I know. I'm just worried about hi-wait. What? _Who?_" Drew changed his posture and mentally repeated the list of names in his head. "May's... in Petalburg?"

"Duh. What did you think she was doing? _Traveling?_ She's been there since her last contest. She lives there, you idiot," he said. "Also, as a matter of face, Wally told me the last time we had a video call that she brought him his food each day and occasionally watched T.V. with him. He mentioned that she was out of her depression stage and started to get back on her normal eating habits again."

This caught Dawn's attention and she was soon drawn into the conversation with interest. "She what? I didn't know that!" The blunette's eyes changed to a deeper and darker shade as she heard the news, Paul quietly listening from behind her.

"Yeah, I guess she wasn't doing too dandy either," Erica added with a whisper. "I honestly can't even remember the last time I'd seen her. Was it seven years ago?" She faced her boyfriend and received a nod, signaling that her approximation guess was fairly correct.

"Well, we haven't seen nor talked to her in five. Dear Arceus, I feel terrible. I... I'm an awful person, aren't I?" Dawn honestly asked. She earned several head shakes and gasps, which obviously didn't come from her two male counterparts.

Erica held her hand and continued to tell her how it had nothing to do with her and promised the girl that she would help her to reunite with her friend. Drew's mind went blank as he stared out into the ocean, watching the ripples of the waves and the flow of the current that pushed them farther to shore, and couldn't help but wonder how that rival of his was. That is, if he could make up his mind and decide what she meant to him as.

* * *

"May, your dinner's sitting on the table! Finish up in there or your mother is giving it to me to eat. I'd love some leftover pasta for myself, you know," Mr. Maple teasingly threatened. He peeked through the gym door and glanced towards the battle circle.

Doing her daily exercises, the oldest Maple sibling was viciously attacking a synthetic punching bag, which was held up in mid-air thanks to her Munchlax focusing on his psychic move. She wore a simple sports bra with matching spandex shorts, showing off her slim figure and flat stomach. Her knuckles wer encased inside of two oversized, black leather gloves. Her toes swerved side to side as she flexed her shoulders and dodged her imaginary opponent. She was very quick on her feet; a surprising characteristic to be awarded to her, as her friends would state.

Taking a temporary break, May hastily wiped her sweaty forehead and covered her bare torso with the t-shirt she had thrown to the side for times being. "Please tell me she didn't make spaghetti. If she did, you can go ahead and have it. I'm not in the mood for it."

"Why does it matter what kind she made? Pasta is pasta!" He dramatically emphasized with his hands. "Go eat and I'll clean up, alright?"

"Alright," she reluctantly gave in with a sigh. "Would you mind keeping the keys on the kitchen table for me once everything's locked up?"

"Of course I wouldn't mind. Who else would I trust with my gym position? I hope you'll take a lot of challengers while we're in the Sevii Islands," he said with a bright grin. She shrugged and rolled her eyes.

"Probably. We'll see. The snow's been pretty heavy this week, so I'm not sure if too many trainers would be willing to trek their way to the gym," she retorted. "It'll give me more practicing opportunities, though." Her eyes clouded with sadness for a quick moment, but her father was too drawn out of focus to notice.

Even though she was the part-time Petalburg Gym Leader, both of her parents and Max were well aware that she still missed coordinating. Losing Blaziken was not only an almost impossible hurdle to jump for her, but also for the rest of the family. May's cousin, Gary, had even taken time off from his laboratory to get her back into battling and working with Pokemon after her stage of depression had passed. Five years later, she's finally regained her strength, but still lacks in happiness.

May awkwardly stood in front of the navy haired man, waiting for a response. She poked his dangling arm.

"Oh! Sorry, May. I agree with you. It's never a negative to have a chance to go one-on-one with an amateur. You've never given away a single badge since you've been in charge, so I'll count on you to keep the streak up."

"I will, daddy," she groaned, but laughed along with him. He mentioned something about carrying the luggage bags downstairs, but I was too far down the hallway to hear him. I entered the family room and immediately took a seat on the couch, fumbling for the television remote and ignoring the platter of food set aside on the counter for her.

"-will win Hoenn's Next Top Model?"

"-Are you losing hair? Does your scalp have burning or tingling sensations?"

"Why do the broadcasting stations even _use_ these commercials in their advertising time slots?" May moaned, skimming channel to channel. "You can't find a decent thing to watch anymore."

"Well, there's a story on Harley before," Max popped into May's self-conversation and sat beside his sister. "He finally proposed to Solidad. Brock must be devastated."

"Harley did _what?_" May screeched. "No. He told me he wasn't planning on doing that for years..."

"And when was the last time you've seen him? Or Dawn? Or Ash? Or Steven? Or Misty? Or Dr-"

"I get _it_, Max! I haven't talked to any of them. I _know_. I am well aware of that." The too-smart-for-his-own-good pre college teenager took this as a hint to lay off. He couldn't understand, even though he understood everything else in the world, why she would tense up at the mentioning of her friends... if they really still were her friends to her anymore.

After May's dreadful loss five years ago, she quickly hitched a boat back to town and buried herself in research work, which she received from Mr. Birch. She assisted him and his two sons on a daily basis, often helping new trainers in picking their starters. She enjoyed surveying children and sending them down the right path to begin on, but couldn't help but feel nostalgic.

Brendan and Ruby would often ask her if she needed to take a break or go for a walk, but she would always create a fake façade and reassure them that she was fine. She developed the habit of making invisible barriers around herself to keep others out of her personal space. May, who used to be bubbly and friendly, recovered herself in isolation and couldn't find the drive to open up once again.

"Forget I said anything," Max mumbled under his breath and stared at the television without any sign of amusement.

* * *

Caroline slid back and forth through the kitchen in her slippers with an oversized notepad in her arms. She called out each item on the list to her son and waited for the "good to go" yelp so she could lock each baggage. With a highly amused smirk, I rested my arms alongside the counter and watched the show my family was performing.

Max anxiously stared at our mother, wanting to hurry up and so they could leave on time. "Mom, our flight is in an hour. Can we _go?_"

"I'm just taking precautions and double-checking what we packed. Don't want to leave something hours away from our hotel, do we?" she giggled. Suddenly filled with paranoia and a beeping reminder about packing food in her mind, the aspiring scientist's biggest supporter scavenged through the kitchen pantries. She grumbled a faint thank you to him for reminding her. Max simply gave her a deadpanned stare and replied with a sarcastic "sure". He was excited to finally have a break from competing around the region, but his reaction to the twelve-hour flight that he would have to endure to get to the islands was anything but. And, of course, the preparation time added to the gigantic amount of waiting before he could reach the warm shores of the islands certainly didn't do him much good.

Petalburg City was currently in the middle of its winter season, which could easily turn from mildly cold to frigid in the blink of an eye. On most nights, the temperatures dropped below freezing and blizzard advisories were often broadcasted on the news stations. Hoenn, unlike Sinnoh and Kanto, which both had fairly steady weather all year round; snow for the former and rain for the latter, had four respective divisions during the year. Many urbanized trainers left the city to travel to other various and significantly warmer places, my family included. Although, this gave nit-picky competitors the opportunity to have extra time to get ready for the upcoming start of competing and to battle gym leaders.

Since our gym assistant and family chef, Kenny, was on Christmas break, I was left with the duty of keeping up with my father's job. I had no problem with wanting to do it, though. The two of us often trained with Max in our yard, prepping him for the Elite Four battles that he was planning to partake in.

"So you're sure you'll be fine, May?" Norman called from the other room.

I am _twenty_, I wanted to yell, but I resisted. My overprotective dad always wanted to make sure that I'm comfortable. I guess that trait comes with being a gym leader and battle frontier brain. I hoped to Arceus that if Max or I were to permanently replace him one day, we wouldn't pester our kids or younger friends like that. I was a "daddy's girl", as Max would call me, but I would never want to evolve into him. I liked to think that my personality, physical coordination, and presentation was more similar to my mother's rather than his. Watching him fall flat on his face, which preceded a failed attack from Vigoroth intensely scared and reminded me of myself and my old contests.

I answered with a yes after remembering what I was asked about. I cursed to myself for not focusing and drifting away on such short notice. As they grabbed their belongings, I trailed after them through the kitchen hallway that out to the foyer. "I'm heading to sleep, so I'll be calling you all on my dex tomorrow. I think I'll take some early battlers in the morning."

"That's my girl," my dad praised and adjusted his backpack.

I quickly followed them out the house and helped in carrying their carry-ons and luggage to the taxi. Snow lightly trickled down and laid on the streets and sidewalks. A driver, the one for my family's transportation, I had assumed, was patiently standing by the doors to gesture them inside. I gave a small wave to the elderly man and earned a smile in return.

"Okay, May. Now remember to behave!" Max sneered. I flicked his forehead, followed by pulling him in for a hug.

"I think _I,_" I pointed to myself, "should be the one saying that to you."

My goodbyes with them were bittersweet. My mother, who tended to be the most emotional one in our household, clung onto me for dear life and had to be pried off by my father.

The passenger window slowly rolled down to reveal Max's face. "If you need anything, just call. I'll miss you sis."

I reached through the door to give him a hug around his neck. He gagged as I sloppily kissed his cheek and mussed up his hair. After peeking inside to say goodbye to my parents, I wished them a safe trip and gave a last wave to the car.

I led myself back into the barren house and dragged myself up the stairs. Once I was finally inside of my room, I flicked the lights on. My bed was calling me to lay on it, but I headed towards my closet and opened up the lock to my private bathroom door. Fumbling for bath bombs on the shelf, I urgently grabbed two blindly as I stripped my clothes off of my body and turned the knob clockwise in the silver tub. I released my clasped fingers, watching the circular powder balls slide to the bottom and mingle in the water. A fusion of perfumed flowers and vanilla spread through the room. I lowered my back into the basin and deeply sighed, connecting my action to the analogy of easing the stress and sadness out of my head and into the tub.

It wasn't that I was upset about being left at home, since I was the one who protested to go in the first place. I just felt alone. Not the I'm-bored-without-them kind of alone, but a deeper, more contemplative feeling.

A kind of mental disturbance that I thought had been abandoned a while back.

* * *

Please review, favorite, and/or follow. I really appreciate the support. xx


	2. II : Poor Timing

Hey guys! I've been more focused on editing and revising my one-shots (and two-shots... cough cough) so I put this story on the back burner. I feel so bad. Anyways, I've been in and out of the hospital to take tests and scans. So far, everything is good to go. It's tiring to head there every other day and I've practically memorized the floor levels by heart.

I began to write this A.N. last week, so there's some new stuff going on today. Three days ago, I had my wisdom teeth removed (which was quite painful and nauseating) and I'm now recuperating. If you happen to be lucky and don't grow these teeth in when you get older, bless you. It'll save you from so much pain and throwing up.

I'm listening to The Great Gatsby soundtrack while writing this, and man; it's the best. I love Florence + The Machine and Lana Del Rey, so having both on one album is sheer heaven. I can't wait to see the movie next week. Squeal. I've began to notice that I can write without any blockage when there's some sort of music in the background. Odd, but true. I guess it just soothes me. Heading back to topic, here's the next update! Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter Number II : Poor Timing

* * *

The thick layers of fog spread apart as the oversized orca weaved its way through the tides. Drenched in salty water, the people gripping onto him for dear life had moist clothing stuck to their figures. The massive creature's fins paddled more gently as they approached the sandy shore. The color of the once brightly lit sky melted as clouds continued to drizzle on the travelers. The fairest skinned member sneezed as she swatted her matted, blue hair to the side.

"We're finally here!" she tried to say, but could barely speak and coughed with apparent congestion. Paul put a hand on her back and rubbed soothing circles along her soaked shirt. She cleared her throat and sighed. "Excuse me for that. Can we find somewhere to stay as soon as we can? I'm not in the mood to get caught with a cold while we're traveling." Erica, along with Joshua, nodded.

"Well, Wally lives right along the coast. He'll be one of the first houses we pass when we reach the border of Petalburg. Let's try to get there," Drew reasoned and held tighter onto Wailord as they saw the coast coming into view more clearly. The waves drastically lowered, no longer crashing viciously against the back and sides of the animal. His speed slowed and Paul tapped his head.

"Right over there, Wailord," he commanded, pointing to the dock only a few hundred feet away. The broad-shouldered man turned to his companions with his typical stoic expression glazed upon his face. "Ready? Watch your step. He might have given us a decent ride, but Wailord can be unsteady on his, um, fins occasionally."

"Occasionally? _Every time_ I use him as transportation to go somewhere, he flips over! What's wrong with him?" Dawn exclaimed. She stood up alongside of Paul and glared at him. Her head had to tilt upwards so she could look him directly in the eyes. He wasn't the tallest guy around, but her small figure made it sometimes difficult to make conversation with people. He always used their height difference to his advantage and often ignored her when she would vent on and on about miscellaneous things.

"What? Don't get mad at me. He's the one getting you wet," he mused. His Pokemon gurgled the icy salt water and gently huffed in reply. "Wailord does it intentionally, too. He doesn't like you very much."

From behind him, Joshua flicked his disheveled hair in a fashion that was eerily similar to Drew's signature move and muttered with sarcasm how no one liked Dawn very much. She dramatically threw her hands to her chest and gasped. Being ignored was one thing, but receiving insults geared towards her were graphed a completely different scale and frustrated her to no extent.

"How _dare_ you, Hayden Take it back!" she faux cried. She scurried closer to him and pretended to box with the older boy in a childish fashion. The two continued to bicker back and forth while the three others made their way onto the rickety wooden dock. The materials of the strips of board were covered in moss and splinters, with several pieces of plank missing in random places. The two men accompanying Erica laughed as she clutched the metal railing and crawled her way to the end of the boardwalk. Joshua ended his argument with Dawn and they ran onto the walkway when Paul yelled for them.

The bluenette had several close calls as she slid and tumbled several times on the short pier. Drew face palmed with his right hand. "Does she know not to run on that during high tide and that she could fall in?" he asked, pondering her stupidity. His familiarity with the younger girl was strong, since they had known each other thanks to a mutual friend.

Paul shrugged. "Knowing her... probably not."

* * *

"Wally," May growled. She tightened the needle in her hand while slapping her foot into the crook of the doorway, just in time to prevent it from slamming shut. The man, although he acted like a child, stormed through his bedroom and walked over to the end table. He tucked the light-green hair on his head underneath a pillow, groaning loudly.

"I don't want my medicine." He pouted. His Gardevior looked at him through the window with a frown, waving to the brunette to catch her attention. May went up to the frame, opened it up, and pulled the ghost-like Pokemon inside. While Wally's face was still hidden beneath his mass collection of blankets, the graceful creature held him down by the shoulders as May punctured his arm and pressed the injection into his vein. He remained silent until he rose up out of bed.

"I hate you two." The man rolled his eyes and rubbed his now sore bicep. He wasn't allowed to exercise as much as he wished he could, but he was lucky to have been born with strong muscles and a broad frame. For the majority of the afternoon, he was under medical house arrest, as his doctor would say he was, and could only venture outside for a half an hour before bed.

Wally's dreams were shattered when he was becoming introduced to training during his childhood as learned that he had a severe case of asthma. Instead of risking his life, he chose to head to school and earned the privilege of being named valedictorian in his college class.

After earning his masters in business, he took over the town's Poke Mart and gave voluntary jobs to the locals. He lived alone and adjacent to the gym, which was convenient for both him and May. He believed he was fortunate to have someone like her there to remind him to do his daily activities and to take his required prescriptions, but he started to refuse it after a while.

May sat down next to him and shook her head. She bent over to grab the remote and flicked the television on. Without any luck, she couldn't find anything programs worth while to watch. May darted her eyes up to her neighbor.

"Do you want some fruit?" she asked with enthusiasm. "I'm going to go grab some from your kitchen."

Wally quickly covered his snort with a cough. "What the hell's up with you and all of this healthy food eating today? Where's the May that I knew growing up who would munch on chips and cookies all the time?"

She rolled her eyes and loosened her posture to slouch. "I'm more conscientious about what I feed my body now. I even feel better, too. I've even been cutting down on my workouts. I'm on the road to getting better, but I still want to lose some flabs." The brunette jokingly rolled up her shirt to pinch the skin on her stomach. She thought about how her daily routines used to be consisted of two vigorous hours of exercise per day, while she never did that as a teenager. Her friends helped her to ease out of that dangerous and overdosing habit over the past summer.

Her green-haired counterpart commented on how she was thin enough and she agreed, but still wasn't pleased with herself. He was well aware that she has dealt with depression and health issues in the past, but he crossed his ringers in hope of those symptoms not having a reoccurrence.

May reached over him to pick up the remote. While she quickly went back to skimming through the channels distractedly, Wally glanced at his dex screen and noticed a missed message. He read over the note.

"Oh," he muttered. Wally looked up. "My family's coming over for a visit tonight, by the way."

She stared at him blankly for a moment. "Who _exactly_ is coming? I really don't want to drive your relatives away with my attire. I've worked out all morning and let's face it; I don't put effort into dressing anymore."

They chuckled together briefly. Wally huffed, as if he was preparing himself to tell her the truth. "Well, my cousin Joshua and his girlfriend, Erica-"

May gasped happily. She grinned and showed her teeth proudly. "I miss those two! Wow, it really has been so long since I've seen them. I'm so happy they are still together. They're too cute, am I right?"

"-right. And Paul, Dawn, and Drew, too."

The tension eased its way into May's head. Her enthusiasm quickly diminished. She sat quietly and fidgeted with her hands, boring her eyes back into the entertainment system screen. The guilt from not seeing them for a while on intention burned inside of her. Her muscles weakened, which was shown in her drooping posture.

Wally peeked over to see her face. He opened his mouth and she pinched it closed, tossing her head to look out the door. Her fingers pinched the skin of his lips loosely.

"You know how awful I feel about what I've done to them. Rather, what I haven't. I miss them, but I can't get myself to talk to any of them yet," she whispered to him. "You understand, right Wally?"

He hummed. Staying close to her and his brother at the same time was difficult, but Wally still managed to do so. Drew and May, once in a blue moon, would try to extract information about the other from him. Wally always denied their requests in hope of persuading them to talk once again, but had no luck. Their broken friendship and rivalry was too frayed at that point, as Drew would put it. The boy who constantly wished for better health conditions couldn't help but think that they were really the weak ones; not him.

Ever since Wally had moved to the city known for its slogan of _"where people mingle with nature"_ in his pre-teens to go to boarding school, his older sibling kept to himself. Their weekly calls grew to be less frequent as Drew buried himself in more contests and exhausting training sessions. He found nothing unusual about it, but their parents worried about his stress levels and detachment from the rest of the Hayden's lives. If he could, Wally would get up off of his feet and search every Hoenn route to find him. It wasn't that he had to physically search for his brother; the tabloids were always keeping an eye on him from above. Reading a page of _Coordinator's Weekly_ would aid him to what Drew's schedule would be like for the next week or so. He just had to perfectly plan out the moment to talk to him, but he couldn't. He wouldn't ever be able to.

Remembering back to the day when he was twelve, Wally smiled. May's first meeting with the family was, to say the least, a shock to her. Her naïvety caught the best of her and it took two long years for her to realize that the two green-haired boys were actually relatives. A few sarcastic remarks were exchanged, but things were able to go smoothly after that. If only it could resume just about now.

Wally was aware of the complications between them and would never choose one over the other, for obvious reasons. Shunning a family member is unthinkably awful and suddenly ignoring the person who'd taken care of you for years is as worse. He wasn't there to have seen their verbal fight four years ago, but the exchange of words given to him from both sides afterwards showed that the result wouldn't be easily glued back together. Maybe she just needed to realize that. Maybe May was in need of training wheels, so she could have the motivation to remold her relationships, not only with Drew, but her other former friends.

"I _do_ understand May, but that doesn't mean I agree with that method. I've kept in contact with all of them by mail and each one, even Paul, surprisingly, said they missed you. He said he wanted to train with you again. Hiding isn't the best idea, my dear."

May cleared her throat as she softly laughed. It sure was a shocker to hear the Shinji brother showing emotion to anyone other than Dawn. She briefly met him during a battle with Ash, but knew nothing more than his occupation and connection to Dawn. They had spent several holidays together, though. Each person she contemplated about hoarded back floods of memories. She tried her best to dismiss her festival failure from her mind as it mentally nipped at her. "I know." She leaned her body across his lap and closed her eyes, feeling relieved to have someone to talk about this to.

Staying with Wally had helped her to overthrow many problems that sprouted out over those last few years, but she couldn't help but see his brother in his eyes whenever she looked at him. He knew that, and he wanted to help her to release the pain of jumping the hurdle and talking to them again. But the only thing was his potencies meant nothing if she wasn't willing to give it a try.

* * *

"This weather is awful," Paul murmured. His forehead still had water seeping down the slope of his head, but most of it was shielded out by a hat. His shoulder leant against Dawn and he barricaded some water from being pelted against her. The bluenette had borrowed one of his torn beanies to use to prevent anyone from seeing her frizzy hair. She shyly pounced over puddles while trailing behind the rest of their group with him.

"I completely agree," the pale girl cried. "Can we please stop in a restaurant or shop? I don't like getting wet."

Drew and Joshua sighed. The older grass head chose to speak up. "Dawn, we're almost there. It's only a five minute walk from here. We can make it. Just push through. Wally's been really patient this week, so let's just get there and then you don't have to pay any attention to my brother whatsoever."

She quickly perked up at the sick man's name. She always had random energy rushes when she saw her beloved friend. He was two years older than her and one younger than Drew. She could practically recite their first meeting at a Grand Festival event when the whole Hayden family went to attend and watch. She had much difficulty sorting between them, and was mocked kiddingly by Harley.

"So what house number is-"

She screamed bloody murder when she came face to face with her reflection in a store mirror on their way to the house. Her midnight locks were unraveled; zig-zagged along her chest in mounted clumps. Some pieces even gripped onto her neck, thanks to the high humidity the day at sea had produced. Erica couldn't help but throw an accusing finger her way.

"Oh my Mew. Can we at least grab a drink or something? Like... now?" she squeaked. A pout slid down her face and she gazed over to Paul. "Please?"

"Don't give in, don't give in," Joshua chanted and held his hands to his heart. He began to pray, hoping that the Sinnoh trainer wouldn't accept his girlfriend's plead. Whatever rituals Joshua thought could have worked did not run as smoothly as he wished for them to go.

"Fine, but you better-"

"Thank you, Paul!" She exclaimed and choked him around the neck with her thin arms. Her bony grasp was strong and unpredictable for her size, he immediately mentioned after the rest of the group saw him stumble backwards.

Joshua and Erica exchanged a glance and returned back to Paul. "I highly doubt that."

* * *

Snaps echoed through the rather large room. A rhythmic pounding that resembled a construction site was produced with each punch. May felt her bruised hands weaken, but fought through the pain and swapped gloves. Her neck, chest, and abdomen was traced with beaded sweat that ran down the length of her body. The fresh clothing that she put on only about an hour ago had become ruined by her vigorous workout.

A few minutes passed by and two bodies entered the gym. They passed through the doorway unnoticed and took a seat on the trainer bench. One decided to cough.

"It's not good for you to keep doing this, Maybelle."

She glared, whipping around. Her eyes softened to see her neighborhood-town friends patiently waiting behind her. "Brend, Ruby, what are you doing here? I'm guessing Mr. Moody told you about me barging out of his house."

"You really suck at nicknames. Moody? Really? If anyone is moody, it's you, sweetheart." Ruby smirked and elbowed his brother, getting him to mimic his facial expression. She lowered her sight and huffed. May silently questioned why they constantly teased her so.

"Will you guys come with me to Sootopolis? I've wanted to see Wallace for a while. He used to help me ease down my stress levels," she slowly toned down. Her sapphire irises glazed over.

After knowing her for such a long period of time, Brendan could recognize the hidden distress in her. She rarely showed her ambitious and rambunctious self, keeping it hidden from the rest of the townspeople.

She didn't need to worry about the press or people living outside of their tri-territory location that contained Petalburg City, Littleroot, and Oldedale Town because it was often guarded and was out of the path for most travelers. Still, she had tendencies to become naturally upset.

The Birch twins scrunched their faces and came to a consensus with their sibling telepathy. Ruby gave her a thumbs up. "Sure. We'd like to see Juan for a rematch."

"You mean _you_ would. I don't need to, since I whipped him last battle. You could use the practice though, bro."

She squeaked before lurching out to grab them. They tried to step back, but moved too slowly and were captured into the Maple's iron grip.

She tittered on her toes and smiled brightly. "Would leaving tomorrow be ideal for the two of you?"

Ruby excitedly nodded. "Sounds fine with me. I finished up my work for the night and I've been dying to practice some moves with you. You know how long it's been since we had a fake contest? _Too long_."

Both brothers worked as scientists at their father's lab, yet balanced their own careers on top of that. Brendan had been a top trainer for quite some time and recently was accepted into the Elite Four group. Ruby, on the contrary, enjoyed the beauty of coordinating and would practice with May as they grew up together. Having the twins as her closest friends, along with Wally, definitely improved her creativity and expanded her ideas. She was never empty-minded with them by her side.

"I heard that there's a little party going on at the gym, too. Wallace might be there," Brendan added. The talented water specialists both alternated their duties at the gym and neither had a permanent niche there, since they often traveled through the world's regions to promote the Pokemon-human companionship. "He's home from Sinnoh and there are some rumors that he captured a new Gastrodon."

May and Ruby scrunched their noses in disgust. Yes, he was known for his adoration for aquatics, but there was not a dab of elegance or beauty in the slug-like animal. The beady eyes of its pre-evolution were never categorized as "pretty", so why would he dare waste time to add it to his team?

"I swear, Wallace gets crazier and crazier by the minute..." Ruby coughed. The peppy man often had strange and unique ideas up his sleeves, so he wasn't an opponent that could be easily read.

"Hurry up!" someone screamed from outside. Since the front of the gym didn't have doors, May quietly walked over to the entryway and glanced outside. "It's a block away! Run, Paul!"

"Oh my god," May whispered. Dawn was now eighteen and barely looked any different from how she did four years ago, minus for her lengthier hair. The blunette was sprinting towards the center of town with four others trying to catch up to her. She was always the most upbeat out of all of her friends; packed with energy and always ready to help someone who was in need of support. She was a far distance from the Maple's house, but May could still see that she was soaking in water. Her hair, for the most part, was covered by a hat. The brunette was almost shocked to see that her signature white-pointed cap was nowhere to be seen.

"Look May," Brendan jabbed in. His red eyes gazed into hers. "Let me invite them in. It's pouring, for Kyogre's sakes! Wally told me how you're in complete denial right now, but can you pull through for me? Can I go help them out?"

Ruby joined his brother's side and nodded to her. He batted his eyelashes and added a pout in for fun. "Please, May?"

_Complete denial,_ May's mind repeated over and over. _I guess that's pretty accurate. Pathetic, but accurate. _She glanced over to the boys and rolled her eyes at their unfreezing attempts to win her over. They were now on their knees, fanning her with their imaginary fans.

"Go, but hurry," she commanded. She unraveled her bandanna from her ankle and tied it into her hair, backing out of the gym and into the hallway of her house.

* * *

"Hey, Shinji! Over here!" Brendan yelled. He sneezed from the rapid temperature change after leaving the warm room. Goosebumps were layered against his arms and legs, thanks to his short clothing. He tightened his hat on his head. "How long could it possibly rain today? The Castforms at the Weather Research Institute must be really pissed off today."

From across the street, the head of plumb hair swiveled around and slightly smirked. He emerged onto the paved driveway. Dawn stopped her fast-paced run and followed him, along with Erica, Joshua, and Drew not too far behind. "Birch? Is that you? Ruby, too?"

The two men smiled at each other and jogged up to him. "Yes it is," Ruby laughed. "Wow, I haven't seen you in such a while. How's Torterra? We haven't trained since we traveled through Jhoto. I can't believe it's been that long. And Drew! You've gotten taller, haven't you?"

"Probably," he assumed, unsure. "I've been too busy winning contests left and right, so I really wouldn't know."

The two coordinators exchanged a cocky, teasing glance. The younger twin was always known to be full of talkative matters. Being friendly, he included the others into the conversation. Mr. Birch always mentioned how hospitality means leaving no one out. Brendan, however, didn't agree with his father's logic.

"Of course, hotshot," Brendan grumbled. He didn't notice that Drew was with Paul and his other companions at the time of his call to him, otherwise he wouldn't have offered help to them. Ruby elbowed him near the ribcage. He knew Brendan wasn't on positive terms with Drew since the beginning, so he had to remember to keep a leash on him.

Ruby leaned over towards his brother's ear. "Cool it, B boy. Chill. It's not time to act like the over-protective friend you are. Just lay off for a second. Let's bring everyone inside."

Reluctantly, he agreed, but not before shooting the man a glare.

* * *

I'm so happy that I have the opportunity to update so frequently now. I'm jamming to Coldplay as I'm home alone, so I don't think this day could get any better. I should have the next section to _Coming Home_ published by next week.

What was this "fight" with Drew and May about? That shall be revealed in the next chapter. Please review, favorite, and/or follow. I really appreciate the support. xx


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